Corporate Identity | Rose Wade Corporate Identity For this next brief I have been asked to design a unique corporate marque/logotype. I have been given a list of companies which operate in different sectors to choose from.

These company’s are: CYMATIC: Home Entertainment company (similar to SONY or PANASONIC etc) MODE: Clothing / fashion outlet (similar to NEXT or RIVER ISLAND or FCUK etc) NORTHSTAR: An airline company (similar to BRITISH AIRWAYS,VIRGIN etc) PRODIGY: Sports company (similar to NIKE, ADIDAS, REEBOK etc) ACTIVATE: A Fitness Centre Group (similar to ESPORTA, GREENS, VIRGIN etc) NOVA: Digital computer technology manufacturer (similar to APPLE or DELL etc) STARMAN: A Guitar Manufacturer (similar to GIBSON or FENDER etc) MAXIMA: Amplification and associated music products (similar to MARSHALL, VOX etc) LINK: Telecommunications (similar to ORANGE or NOKIA etc) VIGA: Broadband provider (similar to TALKTALK or PLUSNET etc)specialising in optical broadband REBEL: Street-wear clothing (similar to QUICKSILVER etc) ZENEX: Petrochemical company (similar to BP or Q8 etc) specialising in ecological fuels DIGITEC: An Educational establishment specialising in digital technologies.

MYBANK: A UK-based bank (similar to HSBC or HALIFAX etc) Once I have chosen a company and created a suitable logo I am then to apply this to a range of elements in line with the corporate identity. Before I start to look into this I am going to research into existing corporate identities and logos. I started off with a search of some of the most popular and iconic corporate logos. I went onto Google and looked on a webpage by complex.com Here is the logo history from Nike. The company of Nike was founded in 1964 but the Logo wasn’t introduced until 1971. The designer of the logo was Carolyn Davidson and was paid $35 for her work. It is said that her inspiration was that of a greek goddess of victory, and the swoosh of the tick was to represent movement and speed. Nike’s in house designers then updated the logo at different stages 1978, 1985 and then 1995. The logo became so iconic and recognisable that they dropped the name as it was no longer needed. Here is the history of Coca-Cola. The company was founded in 1886 and has many different designers since then.

Frank Mason Robinson (1887), Lippincott and Margulies (1968), Desgrippes Gobe and Associates (1998), and Turner Duckworth (2009). The first logo was in a spencerian script typeface, which was the principle style of formal handwriting at the time. The company decided to re-design the logo and made it more complex by added the swirls and then decided to change this to the iconic red colour that is now associated with Coca-Cola. Here are some examples of how Coca-Cola use their logo for branding. They have made good use of the bright red colour and the white stripe. This is is clear on almost every product from the company. It is an instant recognition of the brand, and it is clever how the designs all interlink with each other even though it is a simple design. This is a really strong design idea which has now become now of the most well known logo brands. McDonald’s was founded in 1940 and the logo was also introduced. When McDonald’s first launched the company was known as a barbecue, the company then went on to focus on hamburgers.

From 1960 the famous yellow arches were designed and this was the new face of McDonald’s, this logo design was created by Stanley Meston. The inspiration for this was the architecture of the McDonald’s buildings. McDonald’s have kept with the same colour scheme of yellow and red until 2003. A New campaign was launched with the slogan “I’m Lovin’ It” which was then added to all the restaurants packaging, this was translated into many different languages. In 2006 the company decided to simplify the logo and launched another campaign called “Forever Young”. This was to introduce the most simplified logo design. This was a plain golden “M” which has remained the world wide symbol tp the present day. Starbucks along with its logo was founded in 1971. The designers of the logo have been Terry Heckler (1971, 1987 and 1992) and then Lippincott and Starbucks Global Creative Team (2011). Terry Heckler took inspiration from a 16th Century woodcut which featured a two tailed mermaid or siren.

His design incorporated this and he designed a logo that showed an intricate tail and crown design. The siren on the first logo was bare-chested and Terry Heckler was invited back to censor the logo. Rather than changing the logo completely this was edited so the sirens hair created a more censored version. Through time the logo has kept in line with the black siren and the green border, stating Starbucks Coffee until 2011. The logo was changed at this point due to some market research. Members of the public were asked what colour the logo of Starbucks was and almost all of them said green. Starbucks took on board this information and the changed the siren to the green colour that was once the border. At this stage the border was left behind as Starbucks is a household name with such a strong customer base. This logo is one of the most iconic logos, that it needs no explanation. Here are some examples how Starbucks apply their logo to packaging of coffee and their cups. The cup design is very simplistic and makes good use of the negative space, this has been the case from when the previous logos have been used. The coffee packaging has been approached slightly differently. They have still kept in line with the same colour scheme with the green and black.

The logo on the larger coffee pack isn’t centred on the front of the pack but slightly off. This goes around the side which isn’t necessarily the conventional way and is a modern approach. I like this design as I think it has more of an impact. The typeface on the packaging doesn’t match the logo and is in a hand written style making it less formal. Here is the logo history for Warner Brothers. The company was founded in 1918 and the logo was introduced in 1923. The shield design has been there from the very start of the company. In the beginning the logo also featured an image of the Warner Brothers studio with the letters “WB” on the shield. There have been many alterations to the logo but they have all been in line with the original design with the shield. Warner Brothers hired a Graphic Designer called Saul Bass in 1972, who designed the logo in the centre of the image. This was a very modern design compared to the previous designs the company had gone with. This was a big change for the company and this stylised the face of the company. The company decided to drop this and recent back to the design that showed the shield.

This has been created to work on screens and shows different effects of 3D and zooming in. Depending on which genre of film the logo changes on colour, background and animation. The company still try to implement the golden shield with the blue background even in the present day. Google was founded in 1998 and has a couple of logo designers. Sergey Brin (1998) and Ruth Kedar (1999 and 2010). The first logo was created by Sergey Brin, who was one of the founders of the company. He created the logo with a graphics program GIMP. You can see from the top right image it was very basic and unpolished. This has been edited to become more modern, although the same colours were kept. In 1998 the exclamation mark was added to mimic rival search engine Yahoo. This was dropped and the company used a less bolder typeface and polished this to make it look cleaner, again the same colour scheme was used. The yellow colour used for one of the letter “O’s” was changed slightly to more of an orange.

Gap was found din 1969 and the original logo was a sans serif type in lower case font. This was used from 1969 – 1984 until the company changed to the iconic blue box. The typeface also changed to a serif font this is unusual as it went from a relatively modern logo to a more traditional look. In 2010 the company wanted to make the logo seem more modern but still wanted to the blue box to be part of it. The text was changed to Helvetica and the blue box was added to the background. This caused outrage on social media which forced the company to change to the logo back to previous design. Here is the logo history for Kodak, the company was founded in 1888 but the logo wasn’t introduced until 1907. This logo claims to be the first integration of a company name that was to look like a symbol. This remained the logo until 1935 when the company introduced the red and yellow. The company dropped the yellow in 1996 and just kept then red typeface. This was then modernised in 2006 to a simpler font which is more rounded.

Here are some of the logos for converse. These were introduced in the 1970’s and created by one of the employees Jim Labadini, who worked for the company between 1968 – 1978. This design has been changed slightly throughout the years as Converse also focus on the star design. This is one of the more modern designs. It isn’t clear who these have been designed by but it is believed that it was by in house designers/workers. The converse brand varies from others as depending on the style of show different logo designs are used, both the chevron and the star design in the present day. Mastercard was founded in 1966 under the name of Interbank. The very first logo under this name was very plain with it being in monochrome effect. When the company changed name to Mastercard a new logo was developed. This was two overlapping circles, one in bright orange and one in a burnt orange colour. Throughout the years the logo designs have remained with the same circle design with the typeface being in white. In 1996 the typeface was changed to look like it has a 3D effect.

In 2005 the logo was modernised with more colour tones and effects such as fading. The type was changed to black and had hierarchy with some of this in larger bolder sizing. Here is the logo history for Federal Express aka FedEx. The company was founded in 1973 and at this time the logo was the full name of the company. The company hired various designers to create the logo, these include Richard Runyan (1973), Lindon Leader, Landor Associates (1994), and Landor Associates (2000, 2006). The colour scheme of red, white and blue which is meant to be internally patriotic to the US government. This helped the company to become successful. The logo was modernised at the end of the 1990’s. Where the company shortened the name and created the lettering to look like there was an arrow between the letters “E” and “X” this was to represent the speed and accuracy of the company. As well as looking into the corporate logo I also came across some images for how FedEx apply this marque in context. Here I found some examples of how FedEx apply the logo to packaging and stationery.

The logo takes centre stage and is the main focus. The colours work well together and I think that the designers have made good use of negative space especially on the packaging and also the van and plane designs that you can see in the images underneath. Here is the logo development history for Ebay. The company was founded in 1995 and the first logo was created by Elissa Davis. Her inspiration is from the Apple logo with the rainbow colours. “I loved the colours of the Apple logo and the fun movement of the Twister game and somehow that gave me the idea of eBay. The overlapping colours were designed to convey the sense of community on eBay.” — ELISSA DAVIS The logo has remained with the same colour scheme but has been updated and modernised with a cleaner typeface. The newer logo now looks a lot more professional with too to breathe. Here I looked into some corporate logos a bit more in depth. Twitter was created in 2006 by a web developer called Jack Dorsey. The logo was purchased from a stock photo site for $6. Twitter named this bird and called him Larry. This logo was edited in 2012 to become more rounded as it was based on perfect circles.

The beak has been upturned and the birds hair has been removed. Here is an example of the logo being created with perfect circles. This idea is based on the Golden Section Ratio Theory. Here is a message that was released by Twitter on 6th June 2012: “Starting today you’ll begin to notice a simplified Twitter bird. From now on, this bird will be the universally recognizable symbol of Twitter. (Twitter is the bird, the bird is Twitter.) There’s no longer a need for text, bubbled typefaces, or a lowercase “t” to represent Twitter.” The symbol of the bird is meant to represent freedom, happiness and hope. The blue colour that has been chosen is meant to signify communication, reliability and commitment in service. The white colour stands for purity and emotion. Pepsi was founded in 1893 and the logo was introduced in 1898. Caleb Bradham who was the founder of the company, created the design that would become the logo. Pepsi hired Gould and Associates (1967), Landor Associates (1996), and Arnell (2008) to update and improve the logo.

The logo is meant to represent a bottle cap and the Pepsi brand has remained using the same colours throughout. This logo has been modernised now with a sans serif font and the bold type has been dropped. Here is some information showing that the Pepsi logo also has been created with circles and ovals and the geometry behind it. Here is the history for the Apple logo. Apple was founded in 1976 and the logo was created initially by Ronald Wayne who was a co-founded of the company. This was an intricate design that was inspired by Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity. Steve Jobs wanted to a logo that wasn’t as complex. Rob Janoff created the new design logo in 1977, which was a rainbow illustration of the apple and this was meant to appeal to younger people. Landor Associates (1984) and the In House designers at Apple (1998, 1998-2007) updated the logo and dropped the colours as they thought the apple alone would be iconic enough. The logo has then been tweaked with modifications to the colours and shading. It has not moved away from the distinctive iconic apple symbol.

Again here is some information showing how the Apple logos have been created with the Golden Section. Here is the Apple logo and also the logo for Apple’s iCloud service. Both of these show how they fit in with the rule of the Golden Section. Here are some examples of how Apple use their logo on packaging and also on buildings. It is clear that Apple are trying to show a modern clean design. Both these examples are very minimalistic. This is a strong design which follows a modernist approach with the metal and glass, giving a futuristic look. Personally I really like this design, I like the cleanness and crispness of the design. I like how it doesn’t need any additional information such as the name of the company or products etc. The modernist approach to design is my favourite due to the simplicity in letting the logo and packing do the talking for itself. Now that I had completed some research into existing companies I wanted to narrow down the choices that I could work with.

I revisited the list and decided I would narrow it down to some of the companies that I didm’t want to do, the ones that I was left with were: CYMATIC: Home Entertainment company (similar to SONY or PANASONIC etc PRODIGY: Sports company (similar to NIKE, ADIDAS, REEBOK etc) NOVA: Digital computer technology manufacturer (similar to APPLE or DELL etc) STARMAN: A Guitar Manufacturer (similar to GIBSON or FENDER etc) REBEL: Street-wear clothing (similar to QUICKSILVER etc) I decided to narrow this down further by choosing a company that either no one or not many people had chosen in the group, this then left me with Cymatic. Once I had decided on a company I thought it would be a good idea to do some research in similar companies for Home Entertainment which currently exist. I looked into existing logo designs, here are some images of those. Here is the design for Astell and Kern, which is a personal electronic company. I looked into this company as I am going down the route of audio equipment such as speakers. Although this company only does personal equipment such as headphones I thought I would include it anyway.

I like this logo design of the company due to it being minimalistic. I think they have edited the font in a way to make the “A” stand out from the normal sans serif font making a clean design. I then looked into Bose who currently make products under the home entertainment category, such as speaker systems and home Hi-Fi’s. Again this is a simplistic design but has been given more of an impact with it being in italics making it look like it is moving forwards. I personally don’t really like this logo as I feel it looks dated due to the typeface that has been used. Bowers and Wilkins is a home audio company specialising in home speaker systems. From this logo design I get that the company is modern as they have used a sans serif font. I like the simplicity of how the logo can be the full names or just the initials, the only difference between them is the type being in bold or regular. Jarre technologies is a very modern company with most if not all of their products looking very futuristic. I think this has been conveyed in the companies logo design with the font and also the circle design. It is a strong and clean logo. I really like the style that the company have used on this.

Poet have used a different approach to what I have seen before. The logo style that they have used is almost hand written for the name of Poet but then more formal with the line underneath and Audio in a standard sans serf font. I think the circle around this gives it more emphasis but also looks rather feminine and friendly. I think this is a strong design and like how the company have incorporated different design elements to the one logo. Here is some of the logo designs for Sonos. I am not very keen on this logo design as I don’t like the amount of kerning in-between the letters of “Sonos”. Although this does work quite well with the information underneath as this adds balance to the design. I think out of the two examples here the black lettering on a white background is the better one, this gives a better contrast giving the viewer more of an impact. The logo design on the right I think gets lost, there is too much going on with the shapes in the background also making up the word Sonos. I don’t think this design is very strong and just confuses the viewers eye as there is not really a main focal point. Here are some designs from Sony.

The company has been around for a long time and has kept inline with the same style for most of the companies existence, using a serif font for the name of the company. They have tried to modernise the logo at many different stages by adding different elements to it, but they has still not moved away from the typeface. On the example on the left you can see that they have tried to do this by added a sans serif font for the tagline. On the image on the right, they have tried to create a modern symbol design which is featured on the companies computing products. Personally I don’t like that they have kept the serif typeface but as the company has such a large and strong customer base I think they are reluctant to change this. I would say that the target market for some of the products such as televisions, would be the older generation that will have traditional views. I think Sony don’t want to loose this customer base so have kept with the same logo. Some of the other products they sell such as mobile phones and laptops would be targeted at a younger generation which is why I feel that they have tried to modernise this by adding symbols.

Here are some some examples how they have changed the look of the branding to fit inline with a younger target market. This has been done with adding futuristic type that is something that the company has not tried before, modern symbols and then sans serif font for a crisp, clean look. Here is the logo for Ultrasone. Again these specialise in personal products rather than for the home. I decided to include this logo as this is one of the few that I have come across which has colour rather than being black or white. I don’t really like this design for a number of reasons. I think that the symbol to the left of the logo is too small and is difficult to make out. Also I don’t really like the fact that they have used both serif and sans serif fonts within the same logo, I think this doesn’t give off a clear message of what the company is about. From looking into some existing logos from home entertainment companies it is clear that they are all trying to compete and look desirable. A lot of black is used which normally represents power, elegance and mystery. White is also used which I believe is mainly for contrast to make the logo’s stand out more.

This is something to consider when designing my logo, as I want to give off the correct message to fit in line with the target market. I have decided that I am wanting to create a high end brand, that I want to be modern and desirable. I looked into some products that already exist by other companies which I can rebrand under my new design. I went onto Selfridges website to look into some products that I liked the look of. Here are some of those images that I found. Bose – Lifestyle 535 Home Theatre System £3,499.00 Bowers & Wilkins – T7 Portable Bluetooth Speaker £299.99 Aether – Cone wi-fi Music Player £349.99 Bowers & Wilkins – A7 Wireless Music System with Airplay £699.00 Jarre – Aeroskull HD iPhone 5 Bluetooth dock £359.99 From looking into these speakers, you can see that they are modern designs and some are pushing the boundaries such as the skull design by Jarre. The first example from Bose tends to be the more conventional design that companies are going for at the moment.

Although this example is in a very high price bracket a lot of the more affordable designs in high street stores have a similar look with them being a high gloss black finish. From some of the examples that I have looked at I really like the designs of Bowers & Wilkinson and also Poet Audio’s products. For my branding I think I will use these products. I wanted to create a logo that had context behind it so I decided to try to link my designs to sound waves. Here are some of my initial sketches that I did. From these initial sketches I liked the idea of the sound waves being part of the word, as you can see on the bottom design on the left hand side image. I decided to work on this design a bit further to see if I could improve the readability. I decided to try and create this design digitally. I Created this design with a graphics tablet. Although I quite like this design I don’t think this represents the look that I am trying to aim for. I am looking at achieve a more professional finish. I looked back through my sketches to see if there was another design that I could develop.

I decided that I still wanted to use the sound waves so I thought about adding these to the beginning on the word rather than to make up the word. I liked this idea and decided to design this digitally. I tried a couple of variations of this. I thought about creating a heart design that was in the shape of the sound waves, I didn’t think this gave off the correct message and wouldn’t look high end like I was hoping for. I also tried a symmetrical design but I thought this was too neat and a little boring. I then tried a design of different lengths. I think this is a lot more interesting and eye-catching. Out of these designs I am going to use the last design. This needs to be edited slightly so that all the curves are the same proportion as the end ones are wider than the rest. Now that I have decided on a logo design that I will use I wanted to add the word Cymatic. I looked into different typefaces that I could use for this and which ones would be most suitable for this. Here are some of the different typefaces that I looked into. I decided that I will use the heavier typeface, which is called Elkwood.

I thought this had more of a balance with the logo as they are a similar thickness. This has the most impact and I think this works well with the logo. As well as trying this in black I tried a few variations of colour. I reversed this so the text and logo were white on a black background but I also tried this in different shades of grey. Out of the different colours that I tried I thought the design had more of an impact in grey. The shades that I decided to use were Pantone 432C at 100%, Pantone 430C at both 100% and 20% and then paper white. I thought these worked really well together. Once I was happy with the logo design I then went on to design my stationery. I started off with a letterhead design. Rather than just going straight onto design this digitally I did some rough sketches of different layouts to see what would look the most effective.I needed to consider the information that was normally on corporate letters such as the company name, address, VAT number etc. This was important when considering which layout would work best. After doing a couple of rough sketches I then went onto designing this digitally.

I wanted a sans serif typeface for the body text and all the information that you would normally find on the letter. I thought this would be the best option as I thought it was the best match with the type that I had chosen for the typography on the marque. I decided to go with Helvetica Neue as this is quite a versatile typeface which has several different weights. I wanted my letterhead to have a visual impact. Rather than this just being a standard layout I tried to play around with where the text started and finished. I thought that this looked best where it started further in than where the sound wave logo was positioned. By doing this it added a good amount of breathing space around the edge of the letter. This created a visual balance that I thought added something to the design. Rather than having this on just a standard white background I wanted to incorporate the colour scheme that I had already decided on for the marque. I added on a section at the top of the page in a very light grey. When I added the typography from the marque this wasn’t very easy to read therefore it had to be changed to a slightly darker colour. I still wanted to use a lighter colour so that this wouldn’t be as harsh.

I still wanted to try to incorporate the darker grey as I thought this would add more of an impact to the layout design. Upon looking at the layout there wasn’t anywhere else that was free on the page except for the very bottom of the page. I thought by adding a ,small strip of the darker grey I could then add in the companies head office address and the VAT information etc. I added in some body text so get more of an idea to what the letter would look like under real circumstances. I thought this looked professional and fit in nicely with what I was trying to achieve. Now that this letterhead design has the body text in it, I am really pleased with the design. There is a good balance to the page and I think that the design is visually appealing. To keep my designs consistent I wanted to try and create the compliment slip in the same style with the three colour sections. Not all the information that is found on a letterhead will be needed on a compliment slip so I was unsure if this would look balance with there not being the text at the very bottom of the page. I added in the relevant information that was needed which in this case was just the marque, the company address and then with compliments added on the page.

Again I was happy with how this design had turned out. I feel that the designs are unique and have an impact whilst remaining professional. Once I had completed the letterhead and the compliment slip I then went on to design the business card. I wanted to keep with the same colour scheme of greys but I thought the three colours would look far too much on such a small area to work with. This in my opinion, wouldn’t look professional and wouldn’t fit in with the style that I was aiming for. I decided on working with the darker of the greys for the background but linking this to the other pieces of stationery by adding the different colours of greys into the typography that would be on the card. I wanted to make use of the negative space that was available so the business card didn’t look like the information was too much. I thought that the best way of doing this was to make a double sided card. The front of the business card had just the sound wave logo on and then the reverse of the card had the name of the company,the tagline and also the representative of the company in the same type as the marque. The other text that was on there was the contact details and position in the company which was in Helvetica Neue.

I did this so that the designs were all linked even though they were not all identical. Once that I had created the stationery designs I went onto create the leaflets for the company. I was really happy with the colours and the style that I had used I wanted to continue with this but try to make more use of the negative space that was available. I wanted to keep to the similar style of the sections but I didn’t want to use all of the same colours. I thought if I did this it would look too much and not as sophisticated. I liked the darker grey colour that I have used for the business cards. I tried the same layout design with the three different sections. Here is the layout design that I have decided to use. I think the three sections will word well and link into the other stationery pieces that I have created. The middle section will host the image. The top section will have the corporate marque this should have breathing space and make use of the negative space. I wanted the brochure to be in the same style so I continued with the darker grey sections. I kept the middle section for the main imagery and then the corporate marque on the right hand side of the top grey section.

Again I wanted to make good use of the negative space and keep a minimalistic design. Now that I have my layout designs I need to look into the imagery that will go on them. I have already done some research on existing home entertainment systems so I will chose the best ones that I can add the corporate marque onto. Here are the designs that I decided to focus on. I wanted to to keep with the minimalistic design and make use of the negative space. I thought the best way of doing this would be to just use the sound wave logo rather than the total corporate marque. I think this looked better due to it being on a smaller scale. If the full corporate marque was to be used I think this would have lost detail and will be difficult to read. I kept within the same colour scheme by using the darker greys. I added a shadow to the logo so that this looked more realistic and three dimensional. Now that I had worked on some of the logo designs on the products I added these designs into the leaflets and brochure designs. I added the darker images to leaflets as I thought that these would work best with the colours used. I tried a few different images so that there was a variation of designs.

As well as trying a few leaflet fronts I also designed the inside of the the leaflet just to show how this should be laid out. Again this is in the same darker grey which is Pantone 432C at 100%. I wanted there to be a flow to the leaflet with the images being the main focus. I didn’t think there needed to be a lot of information just the main details of the product. The corporate marque is to take centre stage of the leaflet in the centre. I tried two different designs of brochure covers, one has a single image which is the main focus and then the other has several images showing more of the product ranges. I think the brochure with the single image works better due to the background colour matching the colour scheme of the brochure background. Once I had completed these designs I went onto look into environmental applications. I looked online and gathered some images of an office, a boardroom and signage. I applied the corporate marque to all of these in the best way that I thought. For the image of the boardroom and the office I used the full corporate marque and matched this to the colour scheme that I had decided on previously. For the store signage I just used the sound wave logo.

I did this due to the space being quite small, I wanted the design to stand out and be a visible as possible. I added a shadow and embossing effect to this application to make this look three dimensional. As well as the home entertainment systems themselves I wanted to create a design for the outside packaging. I wanted this to look high end and sophisticated. Again I kept within the same colour scheme as the brand identity and also made good used of the negative space. I wanted there to be limited information on the packaging as I didn’t want there to be too much information on the packaging as I didn’t think this was needed. On the front of the package I just had the corporate marque. On both the left and right side of the box there is the name of the product, which in this case is Pandoretta. On the reverse there should just have the basic information of the product description. The text that is on the packaging will be in Helvetica Neue to keep within the branding style. I also designed the sound wave logo to appear on some mugs that would be found in the offices as promotion pieces. Now that I have designed the outcomes it was time to apply these pieces into a corporate manual.

I kept the design of the manual in-line with the corporate identity. Here are the pages of this. Overall I am very pleased with how the corporate identity has turned out. I was aiming for a high end sophisticated style that would look desirable to the customer. I think I have achieved this. I think that the outcomes that I have designed look professional and show a strong corporate brand identity. Wall St gets palpitations over caffeine fuelled growth | Business | The Guardian Wall St gets palpitations over caffeine fuelled growth Earnings are still strong but American customers may be starting to trickle away Andrew Clark in New York Monday 7 January 2008 05.30 EST Share on Messenger Close With its green logo, enticing muffins and semi-Italian vocabulary, Starbucks is a familiar haven to coffee lovers around the world. But as new outlets open on street corners at a dizzying rate, doubts are mounting on Wall Street about just how many "venti frappuccinos" the public can stomach. Rising dairy prices, an economic downturn in America and a cut-price caffeine onslaught from McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts have set alarm bells ringing about the prospects for the ubiquitous Seattle-based chain.

Once a reliable investment for the firm's constant growth, Starbucks shares slumped by 42% during 2007, making them one of the worst large-cap performers on the Nasdaq exchange. A downgrade by analysts at investment bank Bear Stearns prompted a further 11% plunge last week. In the final quarter of the year, Starbucks revealed what many had feared: although business remains strong in Britain and other overseas markets, footfall at Starbucks' 10,500 American outlets is slowing down. The average number of transactions per US store was down by 1%. "They have to slow their growth - they've been growing far too fast," says Howard Penney, a restaurants analyst at broker Friedman, Billings, Ramsey in New York. He says Starbucks is following a path familiar from Coca-Cola and McDonald's and is in danger of facing a revolt by shareholders. "Act one - a great concept starts and grows, becomes a global behemoth and ultimately grows too fast.

It takes two or three CEOs to realise they've hit a level of maturity that means they've got to adjust." Named after the coffee-loving first mate in the novel Moby-Dick, the Starbucks empire can be traced back to a single outlet in Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1971. Its expansion was driven through the 1980s and 1990s by Howard Schultz, who remains chairman and "chief global strategist". With larger drinks routinely priced at £2.50 or above, Starbucks was traditionally a haunt for affluent middle-class cappuccino quaffers. But with 15,011 stores now worldwide, the social mix has broadened - which means the company is increasingly vulnerable to belt-tightening by poorer clientele when times get tough. In a research note, Bear Stearns analyst Joseph Buckley said Starbucks' fortunes now mirror those of mass-market, high-street retailers: "We attribute this new cyclical sensitivity to the success the company has had in past years broadening its customer base to include more blue-collar, less affluent consumers who are more likely to react to economic pressures by scaling back visit frequency." Romance Worries about Starbucks' magic fading have been brewing for some time.

In a memo leaked early last year, the company's own chairman fretted that outlets were losing their "romance and theatre". He pointed out that the distinctive aroma of fresh coffee was less evident because of the advent of vacuum-sealed, flavour-locked packaging. New machines mean customers cannot see their drinks being prepared - eliminating an "intimate experience" with the barista. "We have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have led to the watering down of the Starbucks experience and what some might call the commoditisation of our brand," said Schultz. By most standards, Starbucks' earnings remain decidedly robust. Revenue was up 21% to $9.4bn in the year to September and profits rose by 19% to $564m. But the sub-prime mortgage crisis has weakened the US economy at a point when competitors are coming in as fast as they can. McDonald's is introducing cappuccinos, lattes and mochas to its 13,000 American restaurants at prices typically 15% cheaper than those at Starbucks.

Dunkin' Donuts is energetically touting its breakfast drinks, while a Canadian chain, Tim Hortons, is expanding across the border. "They're going to have to slow the rate of new store openings - definitely in the US and perhaps overseas as well," says Robert Toomey, an analyst at E K Riley Investments in Seattle. "It goes back to the issues of a diluted experience and a saturated market." An American website, Foodio54.com , has begun measuring "Starbucks saturation" by postcode. In the centre of New York, for example, it reckons there is one Starbucks every 0.07 square miles. In Beverly Hills, the ratio is one every 4.7 square miles. Starbucks maintains that the potential for expansion remains enormous. Its ambition is to have 20,000 American stores and a further 20,000 overseas. The company has reacted to straitened economic conditions by trimming its planned openings by a modest 100 stores in 2008. Skinny In a break with tradition, it began airing television commercials in November and is heavily promoting a new range of "skinny" drinks, made with sugar-free syrup.

Brandon Borrman, a spokesman at the firm's Seattle headquarters, says the company will continue to build on its strengths - the quality of its coffee, the in-store experience and the adeptness of its baristas. He points out there are increasingly popular offerings such as books and music recordings. "We look at what we're hearing from our customers, we know what our customers want from us," said Borrman. "We intend to focus on our points of difference - the things that set Starbucks apart." He added that Britain, Canada and Japan are delivering particularly strong results, suggesting foreign expansion is delivering dividends even in relatively mature coffee markets. Starbucks shares ended the week at a four-year low of $18.08, compared with $36 a year ago, and patience is wearing thin among investors. "If senior management does not make the appropriate changes soon, losing control of the company is a real possibility," warned Friedman, Billings, Ramsey in a recent note, adding ominously: "Many private equity firms are still in business." Mug up on Starbucks What is the most expensive drink at Starbucks? A New York software engineer, Billy Chasen, decided to find out when he was given a voucher for a free drink of any variety.

A venti white mocha is the priciest on the menu. He asked a barista at a Manhattan branch to squeeze as many extra shots and syrups into the cup as possible. The result? A 13-shot venti soy hazelnut vanilla cinnamon white mocha with extra white mocha and caramel. The cost was $13.76 (£6.97). His verdict? "It was very sweet and I'm still shaking a bit," he reported on his blog. "I didn't attempt to drink the entire thing, since I'd like to sleep tonight." The chain's logo is a twin-tailed mermaid (the siren of Greek mythology). It has been streamlined over the years, going from a topless siren with a fully visible double fishtail, to her chest being covered by her flowing hair and the tail being less prominent. The original logo is still on the Starbucks in Seattle's Pike Place Market and on some coffee bags. Starbucks entered the music business in 1999 with the acquisition of Hear Music. It recently released a new album by Joni Mitchell.

It entered the film industry in 2006, creating Starbucks Entertainment, one of the producers of the film Akeelah and the Bee. A partnership with Apple Inc has been established in which the iPod touch and iPhone will detect the current and last 10 songs playing in a Starbucks branch then offer to download them from iTunes. Shift Supervisor (US) Jobs in Victor, NY - Starbucks Coffee Company Responsibilities and essential job functions include but are not limited to the following: Acts with integrity, honesty and knowledge that promote the culture, values and mission of Starbucks. Maintains a calm demeanor during periods of high volume or unusual events to keep store operating to standard and to set a positive example for the shift team. Anticipates customer and store needs by constantly evaluating environment and customers for cues. Communicates information to manager so that the team can respond as necessary to create the Third Place environment during each shift. Assists with new partner training by positively reinforcing successful performance and giving respectful and encouraging coaching as needed. Provides feedback to store manager on partner performance during shift. Contributes to positive team environment by recognizing alarms or changes in partner morale and performance and communicating them to the store manager.

Creates a positive learning environment by providing clear, specific, timely and respectful coaching and feedback to partners on shift to ensure operational excellence and to improve partnerperformance. Delivers legendary customer service to all customers by acting with a customer comes first attitude and connecting with the customer. Discovers and responds to customer needs. Develops positive relationships with shift team by understanding and addressing individual motivation, needs and concerns. Executes store operations during scheduled shifts. Organizes opening and closing duties as assigned. Follows Starbucks operational policies and procedures, including those for cash handling and safety and security, to ensure the safety of all partners during each shift. Follows all cash management and cash register policies and ensures proper cash management practices are followed by shift team. Follows up with baristas during the shift to ensure the delivery of legendary customer service for all customers. Provides quality beverages, whole bean, and food products consistently for all customers by adhering to all recipe and presentation standards. Follows health, safety and sanitation guidelines for all products. Recognizes and reinforces individual and team accomplishments by using existing organizational tools and by collaborating with store manager to find new, creative, and effective methods of recognition. Utilizes operational tools to achieve operational excellence during the shift.

Maintains regular and punctual attendance Summary of Experience Customer service experience in a retail or restaurant environment - 1 year Basic Qualifications Maintain regular and consistent attendance and punctuality, with or without reasonable accommodation Available to work flexible hours that may include early mornings, evenings, weekends, nights and/or holidays Meet store operating policies and standards, including providing quality beverages and food products, cash handling and store safety and security, with or without reasonable accommodation Six (6) months of experience in a position that required constant interacting with and fulfilling the requests of customers Comply with, coach and model a dress code that prohibits displaying tattoos, piercings in excess of two per ear, and unnatural hair colors, such as blue or pink Prepare and coach the preparation of food and beverages to standard recipes or customized for customers, including recipe changes such as temperature, quantity of ingredients or substituted ingredients At least six (6) months of experience delegating tasks to other employees and/or coordinating the tasks of two (2) or more employees Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Ability to direct the work of others Ability to learn quickly Knowledge of the retail environment Strong interpersonal skills Barista (US) Jobs in Victor, NY - Starbucks Coffee Company Help us improve CareerBuilder by providing feedback about this job: Report this Job.

CAREERBUILDER TIP For your privacy and protection , when applying to a job online, never give your social security number to a prospective employer, provide credit card or bank account information, or perform any sort of monetary transaction. Learn more . By applying to a job using CareerBuilder you are agreeing to comply with and be subject to the CareerBuilder Terms and Conditions for use of our website. To use our website, you must agree with the Terms and Conditions and both meet and comply with their provisions. Starbucks Coffee Company Our story began in 1971. Back then we were a roaster and retailer of whole bean and ground coffee, tea and spices with a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Today, we are privileged to connect with millions of customers every day with exceptional products and more than 22,000 retail stores in 67 countries. Starbucks is named after the first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Our logo is also inspired by the sea – featuring a twin-tailed siren from Greek mythology. We’ve always believed in serving the best coffee possible. It's our goal for all of our coffee to be grown under the highest standards of quality, using ethical sourcing practices.

Our coffee buyers personally travel to coffee farms in Latin America, Africa and Asia to select high quality beans. And our master roasters bring out the balance and rich flavor of the beans through the signature Starbucks Roast. Contact Info

Question: Which high street company has a logo featuring a two- tailed mermaid?
Answer: STARBUCKS